Emanagers Total Index up 1.66% in February (+3.64% YTD)

March 22, 2012

Opalesque Ltd., a leading provider of online information services to the alternative investment industry, today announced the estimated February 2012 and year-to-date results for its series of indices tracking emerging hedge fund and managed futures fund managers. Index calculations are based on currently 288 funds listed in Opalesque Solutions' Emanagers database, the industry's only database dedicated exclusively to fund management firms less than 48 months old and with assets under management of less than $600 million at the time of the firm's inception.

The Emanagers Total Index, tracking both hedge funds and managed futures funds, gained 1.66% in February, resulting in a compounded 2012 return of 3.64%. Since inception in January 2009, the index grew over 62% and outperformed both the global stock market and its hedge fund peers.

February performance was driven by hedge fund strategies, many of which profited from the equity market rally in the first two months of the year. As a result, the Total Index is close to recovering from the losses experienced in the second half of 2011.

Over the last twelve months, it gained 0.70%, compared to a 1 percent loss for the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index.

According to our first estimation, the Emanagers Hedge Fund Index gained 2.34% in February and 5.63% in the year's first two months. On the other hand, managed futures funds tracked by the Emanagers CTA Index gained only 0.16% in February and have yet to recover from their January loss (-0.64% YTD).

A comparison of all indices shows that emerging managers outperformed their established peers over the last twelve months. However, emerging managed futures managers lagged behind the total CTA group represented by the Newedge CTA Index this year so far.

Emanagers hedge funds delivered more volatile returns than Eurekahedge hedge funds (with similar Pearson correlation coefficients), leading to a higher MSCI-beta of 49% compared to 30%.

Both the Emanagers CTA Index and the Newedge CTA Index were less volatile than hedge funds in the analyzed period, with slightly negative, very small correlations to the equity market: MSCI-betas were -1.0% and -1.8% in the last year.